DE102019004175A1 - City air quality improvement - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention improves the city air by simply replacing it with fresh air.
In this way, all pollutants in the air are equally removed.
The replacement takes place in the vertical direction by ventilators carry the polluted city air through chimney-like structures or with sufficient power without chimney-like structures to a height above the building height, where it is carried away by wind movement.
Optionally, an additional air purification is possible.

Description

Technical area

The invention relates to the improvement of the city air, especially along busy roads.

The health problems caused by particulate matter and exhaust fumes in the inner cities made legal regulations necessary for the protection of the population.

Not only the motor vehicle traffic is to blame for the impurities measured there, but also heaters and industrial companies.

The motor vehicle traffic generates not only emissions from internal combustion engines, but fine dust also by tire and road wear and brake disc abrasion. This remains even with electric cars.

Therefore, a solution that aims to improve urban air should have the overall task of eliminating all airborne pollutants rather than simply eliminating exhaust gases from internal combustion engines.

State of the art

It was tried in vain to improve the city air with plants or moss-filled walls.

Currently running trials (eg the company MANN-HUMMEL: https://www.mann-hummet.com/de/forschung-und-entwicklung/innovationen-und-kreativitaet/der-mannhummel-feinstaubfresser/), fine dust and / or To eliminate nitrogen oxides with filters next to the roads or in vehicles that drive on the roads.

The proposed solutions are either less effective, or at higher efficiency extremely space and maintenance-consuming and very expensive.

Object of the invention

The object of the invention is to improve the air in the city area, especially in addition to busy roads, with low cost, low cost and little space. Preferably, the limit values of as many pollutants as possible should be lowered below the required maximum values.

Presentation of the invention

There are two basic variants here, A and B ; with subvariants, presented. variant B is an extremely simple, yet very effective variant. There is also still as a subcategory the variant M with subvariants.

Option A:

The invention provides a variant A arranged on the particularly loaded road along intake openings, for the course, different configurations are possible, preferably is sucked in the direction of traffic.

A1:

Preferably, the suction takes place uniformly along the road, so it is so sucked along the route everywhere about the same volume of air per unit distance.

Where usually the load is even higher, e.g. in traffic light areas, but preferably more air is sucked.

The air sucked in there is forwarded via air ducts, which of course can be configured in different ways, to a central "wind machine" which can supply this air via as high a "chimney" or a comparable hollow structure (which in a simple embodiment can also be called air transport hoses be as they are in different diameters on the market, for example, from the company Trotec) blows up.

Wind machines are here understood to mean large fans of different types and capacities of more than 1000 cubic meters per hour, preferably more than 5000 cubic meters per hour.

Of course, several smaller wind machines, each serving its intake area, can be used. Small wind machines are often more cost-effective than large ones in terms of the extracted air.

Small wind machines or fans (eg "tube fans") can also convey the air to a central larger wind machine, which then transports this air into higher air layers. The air then arrives at this larger wind machine with a slight overpressure and its delivery rate is much higher than if it had to suck in the air itself! At the top of such a "exhaust chimney" can be a rotatable or alignable hood, which the emerging there air flow in a certain Direction directs. This is preferably done away from buildings or downwind.

Particularly preferably, however, the air outlet also takes place in such a hood always with a predominant upward direction, because the air expelled there should reach as far as possible in higher and more agitated air layers!

Since there are no large flow resistances through filters, very (!) Large air flow rates are possible, which lead to a drastic improvement of the air in the area of the road, because it flows from the side and above better air in this area.

Since the air expelled from the wind machine reaches relatively high altitudes, from where it is blown away, there is little backflow of this air back down. It is advisable to go down less than 50%, preferably less than 25%, more preferably less than 10%. The optimization depends on the building environment.

In principle, in this way, in the early days of industrialization, exhaust gas was removed by high vents from the area of inhabited areas, and nature itself then provided the cleaning of the highly diluted exhaust gases, which of course only took place to a limited extent under heavy load.

In the current case of extracting city air, however, the pollution is not as concentrated as in previous industrial plants (the canceled air is "breathable"), so that nature can effect this purification of the air (for example by rain, extensive vegetation) in the surrounding area.

The subsequent flow of air into the intake is greatly influenced by the development. There is a predominantly one-dimensional air movement along the street canyons. As a result, poor air is supplied from the more remote road areas of the suction.

In a street area with a width of 30 meters and buildings 20 meters high, there is a relatively small amount of moving air of 300,000 cubic meters in an area of about 500 meters in length.

• Siehe z.B. https://www.trotec24.com/maschinen/ventilation/windmaschinen/windmaschine-ttw-100000.html

The order of 100,000 cubic meters of air per hour should preferably be reached or exceeded, and this is possible even with low-cost systems:

• See for example https://www.trotec24.com/maschinen/ventilation/windmaschinen/windmaschine-ttw-100000.html

This system has e.g. even without a chimney an "ejection distance" of 120 meters in the outdoor area, 400 meters indoors! It costs 15,500 euros net and has a power consumption of 20 kilowatts.

These wind machines thus "throw" the air much higher than the height of the exhaust chimney, which should be at least 10 meters high, the higher the better. Preferably, this is the exit velocity of the air from the chimney outlet more than 5 meters per second, more preferably more than 10 meters per second.

The invention not only significantly improves the pollutant content in the lower layers of air, but also reduces the heat there in the summer when the air heated above the asphalt is sucked off!

At the exit of the chimney is preferably a grid with a mesh size, which prevents birds from entering.

Preferably, the intake of the city air takes place via cassettes arranged next to the road (similar to small noise protection cassettes), which are largely hollow inside (so that the flow resistance therein is small) and connected to each other via openings, so that the sucked air along the road from a cassette into the next in the direction of the wind machine, which then releases it upwards into higher and more agitated layers of air, from where only a very small part returns back to the lower layers of air of the road.

It is advantageous if from each cassette (if they are the same size) about the same amount of air is sucked. For this purpose, it is advantageous if the area of the openings (preferably the same size, but in any case so large that no whistling noises arise!) Through which the suction is carried out, can be adjusted accordingly. This can e.g. by slidable shutters that are pushed over a number of openings and then cover them. On the cassettes closest to the wind machine, more openings are covered than on more distant cassettes, because near the wind machine the vacuum in the cassettes is greater than it is far away.

1 million cubic meters of sucked and discharged air per hour are also possible with commercially available wind machines, also by division into smaller units. Such large sucked air volumes lead to a very rapid improvement of city air in a relatively large area!

• Siehe z.B. https://www.trotec24.com/maschinen/ventilation/windmaschinen/trommelventilator-ttw-35000-s.html

Several smaller wind machines with less than 100,000 cubic meters and smaller exhaust chimneys are also possible. Such wind machines are still much cheaper!

• See eg https://www.trotec24.com/maschinen/ventilation/windmaschinen/trommelventilator-ttw-35000-s.html

This wind machine with an output of almost 35,000 cubic meters per hour costs 588 euros net and consumes only 0.75 kilowatts! However, the ejection speed is much lower and therefore the ejection distance. 3 machines of this type for a total of about 1700 euros per hour with a total output of 2250 watts move the same amount of air as the previously mentioned wind machine. In order to transport the air in higher areas, however, exhaust chimneys are useful, which of course reduce the air flow depending on the diameter (as large as possible, because of Hagen-Poiseuille law!) And the length. For larger pressure reduction on the transport route, there are special wind machines / fans with higher electrical power in the trade.

With the method according to the invention of the exchange of near-urban city air for fresh air, the fastest achievable improvements of the urban air at the critical points are to be achieved.

The exhaust chimney could be e.g. camouflage as a thick tree or work of art and then do not fall on it, highest positive!

Or the exhaust chimney would be used as an advertising pillar as an advertising medium.

Or the exhaust chimney (or air transport hose) would run along the trunk of a large tree and be camouflaged by its branches and leaves.

The exhaust chimney can also be telescopically made of telescoping rings, which are pushed apart only when using the air freshening device upwards.

The exhaust chimney may also have inflatable walls that are filled only when needed.

The exhaust chimney can also have the very simple and inexpensive design of one or more so-called sky tubes or sky dancers. These are erected by the wind machine by the air flow itself, open-topped columns or figures made of textile, or foil. Preferably, within the Sky-Tubes or Sky-Dancer is a very long rod, which prevents the Sky-Tube or the Sky-Dancer tilts to the side, but always remains approximately vertical. When air conditioning at the site is no longer required, the Sky-Tube or Sky-Dancer will collapse along the guiding bar along with the wind machine, until the next deployment if there is excessive air pollution.

Of course, telescopic or inflatable chimney pieces or Sky-Tubes or Sky-Dancer can also be located at the upper edge of static exhaust chimneys as an additional extension option.

It is possible to carry out at least partial air cleaning within the cavity, which serves for the suction and the further transport of the contaminated city air to the wind machine.

For this purpose, the wall can be coated with absorbent / adsorbing material, or there are very coarse in the cassette, the air flow as little obstructing objects with surfaces that act absorbent and / or adsorbent.

Or it is sprayed in the simplest case, a water spray in the cassettes, which is largely reflected in precipitators before he gets into the wind machine. In front of the wind machine is then preferably a more effective separator.

The separated water collects at the bottom of the cassette and is discharged (in the street sewer system) or sprayed again. Or a part is sprayed again and a part drained, so that the separated water is never completely polluted. Or the water is disposed of by a maintenance service after some time and sufficient pollution.

It is also possible to spray a dilute, preferably harmless, absorber solution, preferably an alkaline, in order to bind acidic air pollutants such as nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides. It is suitable for this purpose e.g. Alkali carbonates (e.g., soda or potash) or alkali hydrogencarbonates or mixtures thereof, u.U. with other substances. The slightly more expensive potassium carbonate (potash) has the advantage of being hygroscopic and never completely drying out. This nozzle can not clog by crystallization. (To prevent this, one can also add other hygroscopic substances, e.g., calcium chloride, which is also used as a road salt at low temperatures in some countries.) The solution, after it has been consumed, e.g. just be fired in the street sewer system. It is less bad than spilled salt!

It is possible to run the air extraction constantly. However, it is more energy-efficient to only switch it on when there is a need, ie if too high pollutant values are measured.

This can be done automatically.

A2 .:

This structurally simpler variant manages without elongated intake along the road. Instead, a wind machine arranged next to or above the road sucks the air directly at its intake opening and ejects it from the top of a chimney. Due to the high intake capacity, air also flows from remote areas along the road to the intake opening of the wind machine.

The chimney can in principle also have an air filter / or washing function, which, however, reduces the throughput for the same electrical output of the wind machine.

In one possible embodiment, such an air-washing chimney contains packing bodies, on the surface of which water or an absorber liquid (for example alkali carbonate or bicarbonate solution) flows downwards. The fillers are preferably porous and hydrophilic, so that liquid is distributed on its surface by surface forces and preferably also by capillary forces on the interior of not directly overflowed areas. For this purpose, e.g. Rock, pumice, burnt clay and much more suitable. Even wood, brushwood (as in graduation works) and concrete fragments from building demolition.

The fireplace is so high that the cleaning performance is sufficient. It must be achieved no 100% cleaning. More than 50% and high air flow is sufficient. According to the "law of decreasing yields" the air flow would disproportionately decrease for a higher cleaning performance. For example: at 10,000 cubic meters throughput per hour through a 5 meter high, filled air chimney 70% absorption of pollutants, with 90% absorption in a 10 meter high air chimney but due to higher frictional resistance only for example 5,000 cubic meters per hour. Overall, then less pollutant mass is removed.

The washing solution is preferably not placed at the very top of the air chimney, but much further down, so that the filling above the filling point at the same time act as a separator, but where there is still absorption.

Above the chimney there may be a rain cover.

Variant B:

An even simpler variant B of the invention provides, one or more very strong wind machines with strong air jet kaminlos or with only a short chimney (length less than half the height of the surrounding buildings) directly several meters above the road to install (variant B1 ). This can also be done on the side of already existing pedestrian bridges or traffic bridges! Traffic must not be impeded! The very strong wind machine or the ensemble of it "throws" most of the intake air to a height above the building.

Even easier, but a little less effective is a variant B2 : The very powerful wind machine is placed directly next to the road in a short "exhaust chimney", which is open in the lower area below the wind machine to the road as a suction. This exhaust chimney, for example, look like a kind of advertising pillar and can also be used as a promotional or information carrier.

The walls of the "exhaust chimney" (also in other variants of the invention) are preferably insulated with sound-insulating material and the wind machine sound-insulated from the wall of the exhaust chimney.

Wind machines with chimney (all variants described, whether A, B or M) need not be vertically aligned, but they can also be aligned horizontally and then redirect the air flow in the fireplace in the vertical.

The attachment according to variant B1 can also be done, for example, on old or new traffic sign bridges, which thus receive a double function. The static and dynamic load of the relatively light wind machines is not great!

Below the wind machine according to variant B1 For example, the intake area may also be configured like a horizontally elongated suction nozzle of a vacuum cleaner which extends transversely to the roadway and draws in air which is pushed and swirled by the moving cars in front of it.

The outlet of the wind machine is preferably extended slightly upwards through a chimney, whereby a more directed air jet is created.

Strong wind machines throw but with high power and ejection speed the air even without a fireplace in much higher heights than weak wind machines. In this respect, particularly powerful wind machines are to be preferred because they can do without high chimneys or even without them.

If an exhaust chimney is used, it does not have to be static. (This also applies to embodiments of the invention according to variant A.)

Rather, the exhaust chimney can be telescopically made of telescoping pipe rings, which are pushed apart only when using the air freshening device upwards.

The exhaust chimney may also have inflatable walls that are filled only when needed.

The exhaust chimney can also have the very simple and inexpensive design of one or more so-called sky tubes or sky dancers. These are erected by the wind machine by the air flow itself, open-topped columns or figures made of textile, or foil. Preferably, there is at least one very long rod inside the Sky-Tubes or Sky-Dancer, which prevents the Sky-Tube or the Sky-Dancer from tipping to the side, but always remains approximately vertical.

When air conditioning at the site is no longer required, the Sky-Tube or Sky-Dancer collapses along the serving bar, until the next use if the air pollution is too high.

Of course, telescopic or inflatable chimney pieces or Sky-Tubes or Sky-Dancer can also be located at the upper edge of static exhaust chimneys as an additional extension option.

The intake area of the wind machine is preferably protected by a grid (e.g., mesh) to prevent the entry of birds, possibly also the valuable insects such as bees, etc., if they occur there).

The discharge area of the wind machine also has a mesh screen, but preferably has slightly larger openings, so that everything that has been sucked in is ejected in any case and no closure can be done by clogging.

A very advantageous version of variant B, especially B2, provides for a mobile version! It can be located on a movable or displaceable substructure and, if necessary, brought to places with high air pollution. The device (wind machine with accessories) may e.g. on a trailer or a small truck, which is placed on the edge of the road or on the sidewalk next to it. Or the device is transported by the transport vehicle to the desired location and parked there until it is no longer needed or needed elsewhere and is picked up again.

A cleaning of the air before discharge is in variant B by the very short length of stay inside the system cost difficult to achieve. Any fast and effective filter greatly reduces throughput or increases the required power of the wind machine.

In principle, however, such a filter (preferably then a filter based on solids) can then be used correspondingly to compensate for power loss, even in variant B, so that the air ejected above is reduced in pollutant content.

Variant M (multiple wind machines):

Both variant A and variant B, the upward air flow can be generated by several wind machines.

There are two basic subvariants for this M1 and M2 ,

In variant M1 The wind machines are essentially next to each other and close together. As a result, a larger area directed air flow is achieved and the interior of the air flow increases significantly further in the height than the edge areas.

In a sub-variant of M1 the wind machine in the middle is more powerful than the surrounding wind machine.

In variant M2 The wind machines are in a row one behind the other. Since low-power wind machines / fans are much cheaper than powerful, costs can be saved with the same total electrical power compared to the single powerful wind machine.

In a preferred variant, the wind machines are inside a fireplace. In the case of two wind machines e.g. one in the intake area of the chimney and one at the outlet opening of the chimney.

It is advantageous if the wind machine is set back slightly at the outlet of the chimney, so that the exiting air is still a bit directed out in the fireplace. The wind machine before the exit is the same or stronger than that at the intake of the fireplace.

list of figures

• 1 schematically shows an embodiment of the invention according to variant B2 with a heavy wind machine of at least 20,000 cubic meters of air per hour, placed at a traffic sign bridge and having an air throw (measured outdoors) of at least 15 meters. The air exits the wind machine at more than 8 meters per second. Wind speeds of more than 15 meters per second, more preferably more than 25 meters per second, are preferred. The chimney is short, eg as long as the diameter of the rotor of the wind machine.
• 2 schematically shows an embodiment according to variant A2 in which a vertically oriented wind machine is placed next to a road in a 15 meter high chimney.
• 3 schematically shows an embodiment according to variant A2 in which a horizontal wind machine conveys the airflow via a connector / air transport hose to a chimney or air transport hose led up the trunk of a tall tree.
• 4 schematically shows an embodiment according to variant A2 in which the air is sucked in by cassettes next to the road and forwarded to a wind machine with a shorter chimney. Shown are two cassettes.
• 5 shows schematically in cross section a cassette according to the variant A2 in which there is a liquid-based air purifier inside the cassette. The circulation of the washing liquid from the collecting area to the washing liquid supply pipe is not shown, any more than the suction openings in the casing of the cassette.
• 6 schematically shows an embodiment according to variant A2 in which there is a liquid-based air purifier inside the chimney. The liquid entry takes place in the upper third of the chimney, for example by means of a ring surrounding the chimney feed pipe with openings into the chimney.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

1

Wind Machine / Fan

2

fireplace

3

Road signs bridge

4

Street

5

Connector / air transport hose

6

tree

7

Cassette with suction openings

8th

Washing liquid feed pipe

9

Packing / sprinkler body

10

Collection area of the air washing liquid

11

Annular supply pipe outside the chimney

Claims (10)

A method for improving the city air on busy roads (4) and other busy places with polluted air, characterized in that the polluted city air is sucked in the area of the street (4) or the place with contaminated air, a fan or a wind machine (1 ) is supplied before or in a chimney-like structure (2) and is transported by the fan or the wind machine (1) in higher air layers from which they are not or only too small due to the height of the chimney (2) and the velocity of the outflowing air Proportion (less than 50%) back down into the previously too contaminated area. A method for improving the city air on busy roads (4) and other busy places with polluted air, characterized in that the polluted city air is located several meters above the road (4) or above the area with excessive air pollution or next to a road (4) or directly next to the area of high air pollution from a wind machine (1) without or with only a short chimney (2) (less than half the height of the surrounding building) and from the wind machine (1) at such high speed into higher air layers is ejected / ejected above the surrounding building that they from these higher air layers not or only to a small extent (less than 50%) back down to the previously heavily loaded area. Method according to Claim 1 , characterized in that the intake close to the road (4) approximately at the level of pollutant formation by internal combustion vehicles via openings in one in the road direction to the fan or the wind machine ersteckenden, structure with a continuous cavity (7), eg metal or plastic cassettes with Openings, done. Method according to Claim 3 , characterized in that the air conveyed in the structure with continuous cavity (7) has a physical, chemical or combined chemical and physical air purification process is subjected. Method according to one of Claims 1 to 4 , characterized in that the air in the chimney (2) is subjected to a physical or chemical or combined chemical and physical air purification process. Apparatus for carrying out at least one of Claims 1 and 2 Characterized in that it comprises at least one fan or at least a wind machine (1), and ejects the sucked contaminated air near the ground approximately in vertical direction while conveyed in heights above the surrounding buildings. Device after Claim 6 , characterized in that it comprises at least one substantially vertically extending exhaust chimney (2) for the sucked air. Device according to one of Claims 6 or 7 , characterized in that the air from the fan or the wind machine (1) or the chimney (2) at a speed of more than 5 meters per second, preferably more than 10 meters per second, even more preferably more than 15 Meters per second emerges. Device according to one of Claims 6 to 8th , characterized in that there are in the exhaust chimney (2) and / or the intake of the fan or the wind machine (1) air cleaning devices. Device according to one of Claims 6 to 9 , characterized in that the device is mobile as needed from one location to another displaceable or movable.

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